Apparatus for cooling air.



Patented Oct. 29, I90I.

T. DOUGLAS.

APPARATUS Fun cooLl'NG Am.

(Application tiled Jan. 21, 1901.)

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No. 685,584. Patented'ct. 29, |90I. T.-DOUGLAS. APPARATUS F03 COOLINGAIB.

(Application mea Jan. 21, i901.)

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Nn.i 685,584. Patented oct. 29, lam. T. noueLAs.

APPARATUS FR COOLING AIR.l (Appnation med .11111.21, 1901.)

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(Application led Jan. 21, 1901.)

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THOMAS DOUGLAS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR COOLING AIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 685,584, dated October29, `1901.

Application iiled January 21, 1901. Serial No. 44,089. (No model.) I

To all whom t may con/cera:

Be it known that L THoMAs DoUeLAs,a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain', residing at London, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for Cooling Air, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for cooling air and is intended foruse in connection with refrigerating plants. My said cooling apparatuscomprises a tower (in some cases two or more connected towers) having aninlet near the bottom for admitting the air to be cooled and an outletnear the top for the exit of the cooled air. The tower :is filled withbroken coke or like porous material, of irregular sizes andshapes,restin g upon a grating or the like near the bottom, and at thetop o f the tower is a distributer for delivering brine or other coolingliquid and spreading the same in fine streams over the coke. The coolingliquid trickles down o ver the coke and finally collects in the bottomof the tower, whence it is passed to the evaporator of the refrigeratingplant and afterward again pumped up and circulated through thecooling-tower. In some instances the cooling liquid is drawn off into anintermediate tank or reservoir before being passed to the evaporator. Inother instances the chamber in the bottom of the tower is madesufficiently large to serve as a reservoir for the cooling liquid, inwhich case the intermediate tank is dispensed with. I sometimes placethe evaporator in the reservoir for the cooling liquid. The air to becooled may be blown into the tower by a fan, or it may be drawn throughit. In passing upward through and between the pieces of coke the airmeets the descending brine or other coolingliquid and is cooled bydirect contact therewith. The cooling is very efficient because of suchdirect contact and because of the ascending air and descending coolingliquid being broken up into very fine streamswhich insures intimatemixture thereof.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several formsof my invention, Figures l and 5 are in vertical central section, andFigs. 2 to 4 in sectional eleva tion. v

a is the cooling-tower, consist-ing, for example, of an iron shell ofany suitable shape in cross-section and inclosed by an outer casing b,between which and the tower proper is anV insulation-cavity c to preventthe transmission of heat to l[he interior of the tower. This space orcavity is preferably packed with a suitable non-conductor of heat-suchas silicate cotton, cork, charcoal, hair, or the liketo further improvethe insulation.

d -d are pieces of coke or like porous material, of irregular sizes andshapes, supported on a grating e. Beneath this grating is anair-distributing chalnber f, provided with a manhole m.

gis a fan drawing air from a suction-trunk h and discharging samethrough a deliverypipej into the chamber f, which chamber insures thatthe air Will be equally distributed through the tower. The suction-trunk7L will in the case of a refrigerating plant communicate with therefrigerating-chamber.

At the top of the tower is the cold-air delivery-trunk 7c, leading tothe refrigeratingchamber. The said delivery-trunk, as well as the fanand connected parts, is incased with a good non-conductor of heat.

. t is a trap tocollect any cooling liquid which may pass over with theair into the deliverytrunk.

The device for distributing the brine or other cooling liquid mayconveniently consist of a perforated pipe Z, mounted with a capabilityof revolving on the brine-delivery pipe a, one half of the pipe Z beingprovided with a number of small holes on one side thereof and the otherhalf with holes on the other side thereof, so that the reaction of thejets of liquid issuing from said holes will in a well-known manner causethe pipe to revolve, and thus deliver the cooling liquid uniformly overthe Whole surface of the coke. The pipe is shown straight, but it may becurved. I may use any other known or suitable means for distributing thecooling liquid over the surface of the coke. For example, I may use acone or a series of lutes or channels. e

The liquid on reaching the bottom of the tower in the example shown inFig. l passes out through a drain-pipe o into a collecting tank orreservoir p, said pipe-o being bent, as shown, to form a seal, whichprevents the escape of air through said pipe. The cooling Ido liquid ispumped from the tank p through a pipe q into the evaporator-chamber ofthe refrigerating plant. In this form of my invention the tank p isintermediate between the tower and the evaporator; but I may simplifythe construction by combining said tank with the tower, as shown in Fig..f2-that is to say, by deepening the tower I make the lower part of itserve as the brine-reservoir. In the further modification shown in Fig.3 the evaporator-coil w is placed within the reservoir for the coolingliquid at the bottom of the tower, so that a separateevaporating-chamber is not required. The cooling liquid is in all thearrangements drawn from the evaporator-chamber through the suction-pipes by a pump 7' and is delivered through the pipe n to the distributer,thus completing the circulation.

IJ e' are pipes leading to and from the brinedrums, which supply theapparatus with cooling liquid.

fu is a brine-emptying cock, and 5 is a cock to shut off connection withthe supply-drums.

Fig. 4 shows an arrangement especially suitable for small installations.In this ease the cooling-tower is elevated on a staging 1, and thereservoir p for the cooling liquid is made to contain the evaporator.The cooling liquid will drain from the tower into the reservoir pthrough a pipe o, as in the arrangement shown in Fig. l.

There the space overhead is not sufficient to allow of a high tower, Iuse two or more shorter towers, as shown in Fig. 5. The air afterpassing through the first tower enters a trunk 2, which conveys the airto the distributing-chamber of the second tower, and so on if there aremore than'two towers. The air is finally delivered by a trunk 7c, as inthe arrangements above described. The distributing-chambers of the twotowers are connected by a pipe 4, having a bend in it, as shown, to forma liquid seal to prevent air passing through said pipe. A pipe o,arranged as in Fig. l, drains the towers. A cock 6, Figs. 3, 4, and 5,is provided to shut off the cooling liquid from the cooling-towers whenrequired, and '7, Fig. 5, is an additional cock to shut oif the secondtower only of the double arrangement. l

The towers in all the arrangements shown are provided withinspection-doors 3.

My improved cooling apparatus can be made quite air-tight and is cheapto manufacture. It occupies a small space having regard to the amount ofair that can be cooled by it, and it is extremely efficient in action.

The tower may in some instances be laid on its side, in which casediaphragms are provided to cause the air to take a long passage inpassing through the tower.

In an apparatus for cooling air for refrigerating purposes thecombination of a series of towers, a grating in each tower to supportpieces of material between which the air to be cooled is passed, anair-distributing chamber in each tower below the grating, a trunkconnecting the top of one tower with the airdistributing chamber of thenext tower in the series, liquid connections including a bent tube,between the lower portions of the towers, a fan for forcing air throughthe towers a distributer for delivering cooling liquid on top of thepieces of material in each tower, a receptacle communicating with theair-distributing chamber of the rst tower for collecting the coolingliquid, a pump for circulating the cooling liquid and an evaporatorcoilin said receptacle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witmesses.

THOMAS DOUGLAS. Witnesses:

GEORGE HARRISON, HENRY W. LYNDEN.

